Tools

A legendary Wing Chun master (Donnie Yen) finds his 1950s' Hong Kong salad days threatened by both a family medical crisis and an upstart fighter looking to make his mark. While an improvement over 2010's dramatically inert second installment, this potentially final entry in the series is admittedly a bit pokey at times, with Yen struggling to keep the historical sereneness of his character interesting. (A cameo by a certain aspiring student named Bruce helps a bit.) When the throwdowns do occur, though, Oh Holy Mother of God. Eschewing obvious wirework and CGI enhancements, director Wilson Yip and his team of maniacs concoct a delirious flurry of poles, axes, and a bunch of people matter-of-factly performing feats that they should not be able to do. And then a nattily dressed Mike Tyson shows up and picks a fight, and the roof is raised one more ludicrously awesome level. (105 min.).
ByAndrew Wright